Vacations Blog

This is where the wild things are.

Tomorrow may be Halloween, but if your town is anything like mine the festivities will be in full swing tonight as well. There are neighborhood parties and pumpkins to carve and apples to bob. And there are costumed children everywhere.

What does that mean to you? It means that whichever way your travels may take you this weekend you need to play it smart. Cabs, buses, subways – these are good ideas. In fact, the best costume in the room just might be the designated driver.

But you knew that. Just keep your eye(s) on the other guy, yes, the one dressed as a keg.

Photos by Whit Honea

For more family-friendly travel photos visit DeliciousBaby’s Photo Fridays.

It’s time for another rousing edition of Travel Around the Internet! Brace yourself.

Here are just a few of the items that have shuffled across our inbox lately:

Disney Cruise specials and kids sail free!

Marriott wants to Twitter, email and Facebook you to Hawai’i! By all means, let them!

Read More »

Don’t let the heat fool you.  Just because it’s hotter than molten lava outside doesn’t mean that the holidays won’t be here before you know it.  Seriously, they’re coming. Read More »

Disney has done it again.  The house of mouse has teamed up with Amtrak and Hewlett Packard to bring you Christmas in July (also, May, June, August, September, October and November).  No jacket required.

In support of Disney’s new Robert Zemeckis vehicle “A Christmas Carol” staring Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman and Colin Firth- a capture-motion 3-D event, they are putting Charles Dickens’ classic tale on wheels, or tracks as the case may be. If I’m not being clear, I’m talking about a train.

What’s great about this free family-friendly destination is that it will be stopping in 40 cities as it makes its way from Los Angeles to New York City, meaning at some point it will be a short daytrip for most of America.

The train itself is not just a promotion for the upcoming film, but also a traveling shrine to author Charles Dickens made up of artifacts on loan from London’s Charles Dickens Museum.

Who knew Disney holiday magic delivered?

Los Angeles- May 22-25
Los Angeles Union Station
800 N. Alameda St.

Grand Canyon (Williams, AZ) – May 29-31
Williams Depot
233 North Grand Canyon Blvd

Santa Fe, NM – June 2
Santa Fe Depot
410 S Guadalupe St

Albuquerque, NM – June 5-7
Albuquerque Amtrak Station
214 First Street Southwest

Denver, CO – June 12-14
Denver Union Station
1701 Wynkoop St

Salt Lake City/Ogden, UT – June 16
Ogden Union Station
2501 Wall Avenue

Sacramento, CA – June 19-21
California State Rail Road Museum
111 I Street

San Francisco/Redwood City,CA – June 26-28
Port of Redwood City
675 Seaport Blvd.

Portland, OR – July 1
Portland Union Station
800 Northwest 6th Avenue

Seattle, WA – July 3-5
King Street Station
303 South Jackson Street

Spokane, WA – July 7
Spokane Amtrak Station
221 W. 1st Avenue

Whitefish, MT – July 10-11
Whitefish Amtrak Station
500 Depot St

Fargo, ND – July 15
North Dakota State University
1301 12th Avenue North

St. Paul, MN – July 17-19
Amtrak Midway Station
730 Transfer Road

Chicago – July 24-26
Chicago Union Station
225 South Canal Street

St. Louis, MO – July 31- August 2
St. Louis Union Station
550 South 16th Street

Memphis, TN – August 4
Memphis Central Station
545 South Main Street

New Orleans, LA – August 7-9
Riverview in Audubon Park
6500 Magazine Street

Houston, TX – August 11
Houston Amtrak Station
902 Washington Avenue

San Antonio, TX – August 14-16
San Antonio Amtrak Station
350 Hoefgen Street

Dallas, TX – August 18-19
Dallas Union Station
401 South Houston St

Oklahoma City, OK – August 21-23
Oklahoma City Santa Fe Depot
100 South E. K.Gaylord Blvd

Kansas City, MO – August 25
Kansas City Union Station
30 W. Pershing Road

Omaha, NE – August 28-30
Durham Museum
801 South 10th Street

Detroit/Darborn, MI – September 4-6
Henry Ford Museum  Greenfield Village
20900 Oakwood Blvd

Indianapolis/Bagersville, IN – September 9
Downtown Bargersville
24 North Main Street

Louisville, KY – September 11-13
Louisville Union Station
1000 W. Broadway

Cleveland, OH – September 18-19
Cleveland Brown’s Lot
1085 W Third St

Albany/Rensselaer, NY – September 22
Albany Rensselaer Rail Station
525 East Street

Boston, MA – September 25-27
South Station
2 South Station

Baltimore, MD – September 30
B & O Railroad Museum
901 W Pratt St

Washington DC – October 2-4
Union Station
50 Massachusetts Ave. NE

Atlanta/Duluth, GA – October 6
Southeastern Railway Museum
3595 Peachtree Rd

Spencer, NC – October 9-11
NC Transportation Museum
411 S. Salisbury Ave

Savannah, GA – October 13
Savannah Amtrak Station
2611 Seaboard Coastline Dr

Miami, FL – October 16-18
Gold Coast Railroad Museum
12450  SW 152nd St

Jacksonville, FL – October 20
Jacksonville Amtrak  Station
3570 Clifford Lane

Charleston, SC – October 23-25
Ansonborough Field
Washington and Concord Streets

Philadelphia, PA – October 27
30th Street Station
2955 Market Street

New York, NY – October 30 – November 1
Grand Central Terminal
42nd Street and Park Avenue

Dates, pictures and map provided courtesy of the Walt Disney Company.

According to TV every mom wants a bunch of flowers for Mother’s Day.  Also, jewelry, but let’s stick with the practical.

You can buy flowers anywhere- the flower shop, obviously, but also any farmers market, supermarket or kid on the corner.  Flowers are a dime a dozen.  Well, a lot of dimes a dozen, but you get the idea- they’re everywhere.

Instead of killing plants to enjoy them why not visit them in their natural habitat (and kill them with smog and our dependence on foreign oil- sorry, it’s an equal time thing)?

Botanical Garden - Tucson

Botanical Gardens: Most bigger towns and cities have a botanical garden.  A botanical garden is a great place to stop and smell the flowers and/or butterflies.

Botanical Garden Butterfly Exhibit - Tucson

Reflection/Meditation/Self-Realization Garden: Many spiritual and religious groups have quiet sanctuaries where you can walk and enjoy various types of flowers and ponds.  It’s very tranquil and usually very free.  In some towns you may find similar gardens as part of a local park.

Self-Realization Temple in Encinitas, CA

Koi in Pond at Self-Realization Temple, Encinitas

Flower in the Temple

Wildflowers: It’s springtime and the wildflowers are in bloom.  A quick look in a local paper or website will easily guide you to what’s blooming in the area.  Generally speaking, these are called wildflowers for a reason and there may be a bit of a drive involved, but hey, gas is cheap (relatively).

These are but a few options that are available in most markets, whether they be home or just a stop along the journey.  All of them involve a bit more time than a dozen roses from Safeway, but here’s something that the TV doesn’t want you to know- time is the real gift.  Flowers just make it smell better.

Tuesday, March 17th is St. Patrick’s Day and this being the last Thursday Thirteen before the popular holiday we decided to share some of our favorite Irish Pubs- just in case your travels find you in a strange city and you feel the need for a pint.  It happens.

The list isn’t in any particular order and includes the pub, its website, the city and what makes it special.  Sláinte!

WHAT                 WHERE                                     WHY

• Biddy McGraw’s /Portland
• Timmy Nolan’s /Los Angeles
• The Kerry Irish Pub /New Orleans
• Finnigan’s Wake /Pittsburgh
• The Irish Oak /Chicago
• The Blarney Stone /San Diego
• Fadó /Austin
• The Harp /Cleveland
• Molly’s /New York
  
• The Dubliner /San Francisco
  
• The Green Dragon /Boston
  
• Owl N’ Thistle / Seattle
  
• Auld Dubliner /Tucson
  

Should you choose to partake in the festivities please do so responsibly.  Don’t drink and drive!

Photo from Beer Brains

This weekend the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will be honored and celebrated across America.  There are most likely events happening in your area, but should you decide to take advantage of the long weekend and leave home here are some ways to remember Dr. King around the country.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Seattle

In Seattle you can visit the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Park.  It is (from the website): “a four-and-a-half acre City of Seattle park on the east side of Martin Luther King, Jr. Way, between South Walker and South Bayview Streets. The park is designed around a black granite ‘mountain’ — a dramatic, thirty-foot sculpture inspired by the civil rights leader’s “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech, made the day before he was assassinated in 1968.”  (Photo from ArtToday.com) More Seattle events honoring Dr. King are available here.

In the greater Detroit area there are a number of activities scheduled, from luncheons and lectures to walks and concerts.  A list of events is available here.

Los Angeles hosts its 24th Martin Luther King, Jr. Parade.  More L.A. area events can be found here.

Phoenix will observe the holiday with a parade, a march and various other events ranging from sports tournaments to unity and multi-cultural celebrations.

Raleigh, North Carolina offers its annual King Celebration: Three days of dialogue, tribute and celebration.  Visit the website here.

There will be a lot going on in Washington D.C. with the inauguration on Tuesday and many of the annual King events adopting the presidential ceremony into the celebration.  Among the highlights will be a concert hosted by the Kennedy Center and Georgetown University “in a free Millennium Stage event featuring Aretha Franklin, Nuttin’ but Stringz, and the Let Freedom Ring Choir.”  Other events in Washington D.C. can be found here.  By the way, the National Memorial is still a work in progress.

The University of Chicago celebrates MLK Week.  The city of Chicago offers many choices, among them a series of events held in parks around the area.  The schedule is available here.

Atlanta will be busy with many tributes to Martin Luther King, Jr., among them a screening of the animated film Our Friend Martin.

In San Francisco the Yerba Buena Gardens has a beautiful memorial to Dr. King and events are scheduled around the Bay Area.

Across the country communities will also be participating in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service making the holiday “a day on, not a day off… where people of all ages and backgrounds come together to improve lives, bridge social barriers, and move our nation closer to the “Beloved Community” that Dr. King envisioned.”

Obviously this list is just a very small sampling of what is available.  More places to remember Dr. King can be found here. Check your local newspaper for events in your area.  If you are using the internet to search further please consider adding this toolbar that donates to the MLK National Memorial fund every time you use it.

However you plan to celebrate the holiday please be safe.